What is UX Design?

bymoab@thux.io

Let’s start by defining the User Experience itself. Ph.D. Donald A. Norman is the director of The Design Lab at University of California, San Diego and previously VP of Advanced Technology at Apple, found that the experience of using apple computers was weak, when you first discover it when you see it in the store … All of that is user experience. The term UX is the definition of the whole experience. User Experience is the way you experience your life, services, everyday’s objects, an app or a website.

What is UX Design ?

UX Design is the process defining the user journey on a given product or service. UXD role is to study and evaluate how users feel about a system, measuring its added value, efficiency, and effectiveness.

UX Designers have a micro and a macro view on a website, a mobile app or a web app. For example, they might work on a contact form for a corporate website to see if the users find the process pleasant and easy. They can also study the onboarding process of a mobile app and there, look for insights into the comprehensiveness of such sub-system.

This is a system in which the needs, wants, and limitations of end users of a product, service or process are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process.

UX is a Process.

UX Design is the balanced combination of three domains : Technology, Business, and Design. Each of these comes with its own attributes that feed the user experience.

While UX Designers focus on utility, ease of use and effectiveness, Business and Technology stakeholders are always present in the process providing the building blocks of the user experience. Any project comes with targets and goals deeply rooted in an organization vision. Generally, it’s money, but it can also be scaling a platform, users acquisition or raising brand awareness. In the meantime, shaping a great user experience depends on functionalities, Performance, and engineering handled by tech folks.

In terms of product value, the user experience is just as important as the user interface. It doesn’t matter what your site or app looks like if users don’t want it or even, don’t know how to interact with it.

While UX is important for any product, it’s the pillar for certain types of digital products: complex sites or applications, SaaS apps, e-commerce platforms, start-up sites, and businesses.

Conclusion :

This is a quick definition of UXD as a discipline, I’m aiming to create courses on every step of the process along with case studies demonstrating the practical use of UXD.